… if Sanders became president -- and was able to push his plan through Congress -- median household income would be $82,200 by 2026, far higher than the $59,300 projected by the Congressional Budget Office.

In addition, poverty would plummet to a record low 6%, as opposed to the CBO's forecast of 13.9%. The U.S. economy would grow by 5.3% per year, instead of 2.1%, and the nation's $1.3 trillion deficit would turn into a large surplus by Sanders' second term.

Claiming that the forecasts of a Congressional office are low by over 25% is not common. All the social programs in the U.S. have not been able to budge the poverty rate below 10% over the last 50 years. Our economy has not grown at 5.3% in decades, but if it did happen I could see the next part — that the deficits will shift to surplus — as reasonable. So the Sanders’ conclusions are … way outside of what we think of as possible.

Give them credit though. Their position is that pretty much everything is screwed up, so they’re going to change everything. So they’ve put together an ambitious plan that they believe in. If Sanders does get elected, and tries this, it will certainly be the biggest experiment in lurching a developed economy towards socialism since France in the 1980’s. But, we should be fairly realistic too: a good analogy would be the 76ers hiring a new coach tomorrow, who promises a championship next season, and says they’re going to start by knocking off the Warriors when they play next month.